Mac Geek Gab listener Dan Grondin sent us a tip. It involves the command line on your Mac, but thanks to the magic of copy-paste, it's still very easy to do. From Mr. Grondin: My life is full of joy since i learned how to reduce the time it take to see the dock popping…
iOS: Solving Network Connectivity Problems
Attempt to rejoin the network after you do that, and maybe luck will be on your side so that’ll be all you have to do. But if that doesn’t fix things and you’re sure that your network is functional (as in, you can go online from a different device with no problems), then it’s time to…
California Bill Would Ban Encrypted Smartphones
Promo shot of Assembly Member Cooper, in the middle Source: Mr. Cooper's website Put another way, Assembly Member Cooper wants to make all of us vulnerable to the hacking of criminal organizations, malicious hackers, and foreign governments, and he's trying to do it in the very state that is home to Apple and Google. From…
iPhone 6s and 6s Plus Stuck Battery Indicator Workaround
Manually changing time zones can freeze your iPhone's battery indicator Here's the problem: You're traveling and you manually change time zones on your iPhone. After that, your battery percentage indicator stops updating. Here's the fix workaround: Turn off your iPhone by pressing and holding the power button until you see the on-screen slider telling you…
OS X: Partitioning Drives (And Why You Might Want To!)
So to get started, first you’ll open Disk Utility—it lives within your Applications > Utilities folder. The new El Capitan version of Disk Utility is way more…well, jolly somehow than previous versions. It’s bright and colorful, inviting even. Which is a bit weird considering it’s where you’ll go to erase, partition, and repair disks. Nothing…
Think Tank's Congressional Cybersecurity Lab Would Educate Politicians
There is going to be a Congressional Cybersecurity Lab to teach Congress about cyber. https://t.co/eEzQe8IznP — Christopher Soghoian (@csoghoian) January 19, 2016 The grant description: A grant to the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars will support the creation of a new Congressional Cybersecurity Lab that builds congressional capacity on cybersecurity in a nonpartisan manner.…
Death and Passwords: Make a Plan Before You're Gone
Apple doesn't make it easy to recover passwords for deceased family members Following the death of her husband, Peggy Bush followed the process through Canada's government to redirect pension payments and other benefits to her name, but then hit a brick wall when she realized his Apple ID password was required to reinstall apps on…
Why Apple Developed the Swift Programming Language - Hint - Apple Car
Let me tell you a story…. One of my favorite military aircraft of all time was the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. Take a great aluminum airframe, insert a powerful (for its time) J-79 turbojet engine, add analog instruments and radios, and include a 20 mm cannon, and you had a Mach 2 beauty of an air…
Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet Land Oscar Nominations for 'Steve Jobs'
Steve Jobs movie lands two Oscar nominations Mr. Fassbender was nominated for Best Actor for his role as Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Ms. Winslet was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Joanna Hoffman. The movie landed two Golden Globe awards earlier this month, too. Ms. Winslet won an award for best supporting…
New York State Bill Wants to Force Apple and Google to Wreck Encryption
Assemblyman Matthew Titone with Kimberly Cantoni, Miss Staten Island, Jordan Lane Kowalski, Miss Staten Island’s Outstanding Teen, and Alexandra Mazzucchelli, Miss New York’s Outstanding Teen. Source: Assemblyman Matthew Titone As noted by The Next Web, the bill itself includes a passage intended to make the case for such a bill: The safety of the…
Trip Chowdry's Newest Folly: Tim Cook Should Be Replaced by Jon Rubinstein
In a research note to his clients—wouldn't it be interesting to see who pays Trip Chowdry for his financial advice? I mean, this is the guy who said in March of 2014 that Apple had 60 days to release an “iWatch” or die, one of the most unsophisticated, myopic, and arbitrary predictions ever. Then, in…
OS X: 5 Settings to Tweak for Newbies
No offense to Apple, of course. 1) Turn the scroll bars back on. Under System Preferences > General, you can switch “Show scroll bars” to “Always,” and this’ll take OS X’s windows from this… …to this: For a lot of folks who haven’t used touch-sensitive devices before, this is a big one. It’s not…
Apple Denies Agreeing to Make iOS-to-Android Migration Tool under Pressure from EU
At issue are carriers in the European Union who are supposedly concerned that very few users switch away from iOS. According to The Telegraph, that's “in part because of the technical hassle of transferring data.” Those carriers think customer unwillingness to ditch iPhone “weakens their hand” in negotiating with Apple. From The Telegraph's report, the…
iOS 9.3 Breaks Apple's Update Cycle, Doubles Down on New Features
iOS 9.3 is loaded with enough new features to be iOS 10 iOS 9.3 includes a new night viewing mode to reduce the blue cast and shift on-screen colors towards warmer reds. The intent is to help cut down on disrupting our circadian cycle so we sleep better. Individual Notes can be locked so no…
Sensorwake Demonstrates Olfactory Alarm Clock
Sensormate Olfactory Alarm Clock The unit consists of the device, a power supply and, of course, a scent pack. The scents are created by Givaudan, a global leader in the fragrance Industry. The device comes with a Toast capsule, and there are currently six other scents which come in packs of two. The Continental Breakfast…
Simple Human Thinks Differently about Lighted Mirrors
Oh yeah. I was Cool™. Anyhoo, a friend of mine suggested I wear eye liner*. This was on Halloween, and I knew it to be a splendid idea. She showed me how to apply it and after stepping back and admiring my new look in my bathroom mirror, I deemed it a success. I was…
Controversial Shareholder Proposal on Apple's Diversity Up for Vote at Annual Meeting
With the view that Apple's leadership is “a little bit too vanilla,” Mr. Maldonado's proposal states: Shareholders request that the Board of Directors adopt an accelerated recruitment policy requiring Apple Inc. to increase the diversity of senior management and its board of directors, two bodies that presently fails to adequately represent diversity (particularly Hispanic, African-American,…
Retail Head Angela Ahrendts Highest Compensated Apple Exec in 2015
Mr. Cook's total earnings are up about $1 million over 2014 and comprise a $2 million base salary, $8 million in non-equity incentives, and approximately $281,000 in other compensation. Other top Apple executives — Luca Maestri, Eddy Cue, Dan Riccio, and Bruce Sewell — all received total compensation in 2015 of approximately $25 million each, with…
Speedify Keeps Your iPhone from Getting Stuck on Access-less Wi-Fi Networks
Think of Speedify as your own personal Internet connection manager; it watches your Wi-Fi and cellular data connections to see what's fastest, and also checks to make sure you really have a path out to the Internet. For example, if you've ever been stung by an open Xfinity Wi-Fi network that doesn't really get you…
Light Up Your Selfie Videos with Chatlight, a Clip-On Light
Chatlight on a MacBook Air The device has two rows of alternating white LEDs and yellow LEDs tuned for an image that's not too warm and not too cold. Those LEDs have a cover made of diffusing plastic, and the bank of lights can be rotated to affect how much light you get. There are…
Numbers: Three Quick Tips!
1. Use Conditional Formatting. This feature works a lot like rules in Mail—“if this thing is true, then do this, but if this other thing is true instead, do a different thing.” Clear as mud, right? Well, here’s what I mean. I’ve set up some conditions on the cells below to say “If the number…
Misfit gets its Fashion on with Ray Fitness Tracker
The Misfit Ray fitness tracker Instead of a boxy body other dedicated fitness trackers offer, or the flat disk of the Misfit Shine, the Ray is a small aluminum tube shape with either a plastic or leather band. Like the Shine, Ray tracks daily steps, distance traveled, calories burned, and sleep patterns. It also uses…
Griffin BreakSafe Brings MagSafe-Like Protection to the Retina MacBook's USB Type-C Port
The just-announced Griffin BreakSafe is a six-foot USB Type-C to Type-C cable that features a unique magnetic connection on one end. Users just need to plug the magnetic side of the cable into their MacBook; the 12.8mm-long Type-C plug will insert firmly into MacBook's port while the rest of the cable will magentically attach to…